United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, D.C. 20460
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5101)
EPA500-F-00-183
June 2000
www.epa.gov/brownfields/
PA Brownfields Assessment
Demonstration Pilot
White Mountain Apache Tribe, AZ
Outreach and Special Projects Staff (5105)
Quick Reference Fact Sheet
EPA's Brownfields Economic Redevelopment Initiative is designed to empower States, communities, and other
stakeholders in economic redevelopment to work together in a timely manner to prevent, assess, safely clean up, and
sustainably reuse brownfields. A brownfield is a site, or portion thereof, that has actual or perceived contamination and
an active potential for redevelopment or reuse. Since 1995, EPA has funded more than 200 Brownfields Assessment
Demonstration Pilots, at up to $200,000 each, to support creative two-year explorations and demonstrations of
brownfields solutions. The Pilots are intended to provide EPA, States, Tribes, municipalities, and communities with
useful information and strategies as they continue to seek new methods to promote a unified approach to site
assessment, environmental cleanup, and redevelopment.
BACKGROUND
EPA has selected the White Mountain Apache Indian
Tribe for a Brownfields Pilot. The White Mountain
Apache Tribe will apply the Pilot at its McNary
Community, located along the northern boundary of
the Fort Apache Indian Reservation in the White
Mountains region of Arizona. The McNary
Community has a population of approximately 400
people, and there are an additional 11,000 Tribal
members and 500 non-Tribal members within 20
miles of the targeted site. The community has an
unemployment rate greater than 40 percent, and
more than 50 percent of the community lives in
poverty.
McNary was established in the early 1920s when a
private corporation leased 300 acres of Tribal trust
land to construct a lumber mill and a neighboring
town to house the corporation's employees. At the
height of the mill's operations, the town had a
population of approximately 3,000 people. When
the mill closed in 1980, the town's population and its
economic base collapsed. From 1995 to 1996, a
tribally owned and operated timber company spent
approximately $100,000 to clean up asbestos and
demolish the old powerhouse, which stood at the
northern end of the site.
PILOT SNAPSHOT
White Mountain Apache Tribe,
Arizona
Date of Announcement:
March 1999
Amount: $200,000
Profile: The Pilot targets the
former site of a lumber mill for
assessment, cleanup, and
possible redevelopment in
keeping with the tribe's
commitment to comprehensive
community and environmental
planning.
Contacts:
White Mountain Apache Tribe
Environmental Planning Office
(520) 338-4346
Regional Brownfields Team
U.S. EPA-Region 9
(415)744-2237
Visit the EPA Region 9 Brownfields web site at:
http://www.epa.gov/region09/waste/brown/index.html
For further information, including specific Pilot contacts,
additional Pilot information, brownfields news and events, and
publications and links, visit the EPA Brownfields web site at:
http://www.epa.gov/brownfields/
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OBJECTIVES
The White Mountain Apache Tribe's objective is to
revitalize the McNary Community and the
surrounding area. Efforts are underway to develop a
master development plan for the area that would
capitalize on the potential scenic and wildlife values
of the mill ponds, which have not been realized
because of contamination concerns. The Pilot will
serve this goal by targeting the former mill site for
assessment, cleanup, and possible redevelopment.
ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND ACTIVITIES
Activities planned as part of this Pilot include:
• Designing an environmental assessment plan for
the former mill site;
• Conducting sampling and analyzing results;
• Studying options for and preparing a site cleanup
plan; and
•Working with the community to create a
redevelopment scenario for the site.
Brownfields Assessment Demonstration Pilot White Mountain Apache Tribe, Arizona
June 2000 EPA 500-F-00-183
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